New event passes the test
Last updated 19:52, Thursday, 18 September 2008
IT was a good news/bad news weekend for motorsport.
The bad new is you’ve missed West Cumberland Motorsport Club’s autosolo.
The good news is that the club aims to stage more of them in the wake of the weekend’s success.
The club staged its first Motorsport Weekend last Saturday and Sunday involving three different events at different locations and it was a huge success, with all three attracting more entrants than expected.
The series had been designed to promote motorsport in the area and provide a low-cost introduction.
So anyone with even the vaguest interest in motorsport should be kicking themselves if they missed the final event, the Autosolo on Sunday at Lillyhall which gave newcomers the ideal chance to sample a roomy, uncomplicated, fast, twisty, undamaging course suitable for everyday cars.
The weekend began on Saturday afternoon with an auto test switched from grass to tarmac, at last minute, courtesy of the Sheep and Wool Centre, Cockermouth, because of the bad weather.
Ryan Winthrop and David Mitchinson organised it, and with a entry of 15 it was a busy afternoon.
A tight and small course made the driving even harder than usual and after six tests Sam Steele of Eaglesfield, in a Saxo, which he bought specially for the weekend, won to bag 10 points towards his overall weekend score.
He was closely followed in joint second by Willie Jarman of Branthwaite and Ian Fisher with eight-and-a-half points each and fourth was Peter Monkhouse of Asby with seven points.
Next came a night time navigation rally - a 12-car rally - on Saturday night which meandered from St Bees to Cockermouth via various villages, ending at the Sheep and Wool centre.
Mitch McGrath organised it and with seven crews taking part it was won by Nicola Smith and Pearl Wilson. Second were Peter and Deb Monkhouse and third Sam Steele and Kerryl Carter.
The top three crews were all navigated by a women.
It made the weekend championship lead very close, going into the Sunday event with Steele on 18 points, Monkhouse 16 and Jarman with 15½ and all to play for on Sunday.
That saw the Autosolo event, not only a new event in Cumbria but also a new event to the club organisers.
But it ran like clockwork thanks to organiser Andy Barnard of Cockermouth with an impressive 19 competitors taking part.
Some very nice cars turned up at Eddie Stobart’s Lillyhall depot and Steel managed to finish ahead of Monkhouse and Jarman to claim the weekend championship and with Monkhouse’s very calm and clean driving style and Jarman’s fast and furious approach, Steele was up against it.
He didn’t make it easy for himself when he spun it on the third test, loosing valuable seconds but at the end of the day and with eight tests completed he finished ahead of Monkhouse by one second.
First in the Autosolo was Steve Williams of Workington in a very quick Toyota GT.
Second overall and winner of the front-wheel drive class was Sellafield worker Martin Breen of Great Clifton in his Peugeot 106, and third was Eaglesfield farmer Steele to clinch the Motorsport Weekend Championship by three points from Monkhouse and third-placed Jarman.
